7th Maritime Conference of Nafteboriki: Shipping: The geopolitical and economic challenges for shipping
George Teriacidis, Area Manager East Mediterranean & Black Sea, DNV – Maritime, spoke about the critical challenge of carbonation. Mr. Teriacidis made it clear that “there is no single solution for everything”. As he said, “when we talk about reducing emissions, we have to look at what type and size of ship we are talking about. The same practices and technologies are not applicable everywhere”. However, he assessed that the war in Ukraine, despite the increase in energy prices it caused, had not affected the goal of decarbonisation.
“The EU and the IMO are very clear about what they want to achieve,” he explained.
“Suddenly life became unpredictable,” said Kostas Rokkos, President and CEO of TST International SA. From the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, everything brought turbulence.
The biggest fear for shipping, however, he said, is possible US sanctions on China. Both technological and environmental requirements and personnel training are huge challenges for shipping today, said Theofanis Moustakatos, head of the shipping sector at the National Bank of Greece.
For his part, Nikos Daskalakis, CEO of Alpha Shipping Advisors, referred to alternative sources of funding. As he said, since 2016 to date, Asian banks’ financing in shipping has reached $105 billion. At the same time, he said that there are alternative capital providers who also support shipping.